Updates from the 2026 Maryland Legislative Session:

Week of March 2nd

This past week, the big development was that one of Bike Maryland’s priority bills –HB 1381 which would prohibit Stopping, Standing or Parking in a bike lane, had it’s hearing in the House Environment and Transportation Committee yesterday (3/5). The bill was amended to address advocates concerns and will set a default on State Highways to prohibit stopping, standing or parking in bike lanes, unless a local jurisdiction wishes to allow such behavior. This bill will make illegal the blocking of bike lanes on State Highways, as is already the case for County roads in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

Advocates continue to focus on the bills that have already passed the House (HB 0177 – Bicycle Safety Start) & (HB 0055 – allowing more speed cameras in residential areas) to push for votes on the Senate floor. We also are supportingSB 0059, the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act to have a vote in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

As we enter the second half of the legislative session, we need to get as many of our priority bills to pass either the House or the Senate by March 23 (Crossover Day explained in this link). Stay tuned for more from WABA on the session, including more alerts for bills that are about to have floor votes in either the House or the Senate.

Week of February 23rd

This week was not as active, but some bills did move ahead. 

• The Transportation and Climate Alignment Act had its hearing with the Senate Budget and Taxation committee. This bill, which would mandate construction of walking, biking and enhanced access to transit infrastructure to mitigate increases in greenhouse gases due to large road projects (more than $100 million), now awaits votes in both relevant House and Senate Committees and needs support in particular from a few Senators. Watch your inboxes for a related WABA action alert email.
• Intelligent Speed Assistance, which would mandate placement of speed governor devices on the cars of super speeder violators is having a vote today in the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee, already having had hearings in both relevant committees in the House and Senate. Hopefully a Senate floor vote is not too far in the future. 
• Next week on March 5, the No Stopping, Standing or Parking in a Bike Lane gets a hearing in the House Environment and Transportation Committee. Bike Maryland, WABA and other local advocacy groups around the State are also following other bills and will continue to update you regarding their fates.

Week of February 16th

WABA attended the Bike Maryland Symposium in Annapolis on Tuesday, February 17th. We joined over 140 advocates from across the state to discuss updates, policy priorities, and to highlight community efforts. 

Most of those advocates spoke with the offices of their elected officials and a handful of Delegates/Senators, stopped by the Symposium crowd to say hi.  The group was also addressed by Assistant Secretary of Transportation Joe McAndrew. 

One highlight was the presentation made by the amazing Prince George’s County students who are part of WABA’s Vision Zero Youth Leadership Institute.  The students made a presentation to the participants and ably answered questions from the crowd. Howard County Bike-Ped coordinator Chris Eatough spoke about the arc of progress regarding bike/ped infrastructure over the past several years.  In addition, Ema Perez, a Montgomery County planning staffer spoke about the benefits of bike buses for County students.

Upcoming hearings for bills we’re tracking:

• HB 1381, which would prohibit stopping, standing or parking in bike lanes has a hearing in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on March 5th. 

• SB 059, the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act has a hearing in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee on February 25th. This bill already had a hearing in the House.

Progress was made on three priority bills:

• HB 177, the Bicycle Safety Start bill which will allow cyclists to be safer by using the leading pedestrian interval signals, passed the House unanimously.

• HB 55, which will make it easier to place speed cameras in residential zones passed the House, 98-35. 

• HB 286, the Ignition Interlock bill which would make it easier to place breathalyzer devices on cars whose drivers are repeat DUI offenders also passed the House 133-1.

All three bills now move to the Senate where they all have had committee hearings.

There are other bills we are following and will talk about in more detail next week.

Week of February 9th

• One of our priority bills, the Transportation & Climate Alignment Act, which would mandate mitigation projects, such as bike/ped infrastructure or better access to transit be implemented whenever large new transportation projects would increase greenhouse gas emissions, had a House committee hearing Tuesday this past week and will have a Senate hearing on February 25. 
• HB 394, which would provide a carve out from the antiquated and unfair Contributory Negligence policy had a hearing this past week in the House Judiciary Committee. 
• HB 381, mandating No Turn on Red on State Highways in Urban Centers (Rockville, downtown Silver Spring/Bethesda etc..) had a House hearing this past week as well. 
• SB 487 a bill sponsored by the Maryland Department of Transportation had hearings in the House and Senate yesterday. That bill will allow for more speed camera placements in designated high risk corridors throughout the State. 
• The last of Bike Maryland/WABA’s priority bills, HB 1381, the No Stopping, Standing or Parking in a Bike Lane bill, was filed yesterday and referred to the Environment and Transportation Committee. Advocates are pleased that this was officially submitted and will track the progress of the bill closely.

Overall, almost all of Bike Maryland/WABA’s priority bills are moving along through hearings in both the House and Senate and we look forward to committee votes in the next few weeks.

Week of February 2nd

There was lots of positive activity in the last week of the Maryland Legislative session:

• Bicycle Safety Start (allowing cyclists to use leading pedestrian interval signals) had a good hearing in the House Environment and Transportation Committee.

• Intelligent Speed Assistance (mandating placement of devices that prohibit Super Speeder drivers from speeding) had good hearings in both the relevant House (ENT) and Senate (Judiciary Proceedings/JPR) Committees this week.

• Advocates also heard from bill sponsors that the No Stopping, Standing or Parking in Bike lanes bill is about to be filed in the House.

This shows progress on the three top priority bills in the General Assembly. In addition, the Ignition Interlock Devices bill that would make it easier to place such devices on the cars of repeat DUI drivers, also has now had hearings in both the House and the Senate.

Week of January 26th

This week, we were busy preparing for upcoming hearings. The first week in February will see hearings on several bills Bike Maryland and WABA are following. 

On Wednesday, February 4, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will have a hearing on SB 0366, the Intelligent Speed Assistance bill which would allow drivers who are Super Speeders and are subject to having their licenses suspended, be able to have a device placed on their cars which will not allow them to drive above the speed limit.  At the same hearing on 2/4, that Senate Committee will also hear about SB 0038, which makes it easier for judges to place Ignition Interlock Devices for drivers who have multiple DUI convictions. 

On Thursday, February 5, the House Environment and Transportation Committee will have hearings on a few bills of interest to advocates.  HB 0107, Intelligent Speed Assistance will be heard in the House, as well as HB 0177, Bicycle Safety Start which allows cyclists to start biking when they see a leading pedestrian interval signal and HB 0055 which will make it easier to place speed cameras on State Highways that go through residential areas. 

Anyone who is interested in submitting written testimony (deadline to submit is 2/2, 6pm for the 2/4 hearing and 2/3, 6pm for the hearing on 2/5. 

For more information on the billls and the testimony process, please contact me at peter@waba.org.

Week of January 19th

As of January 22, the Maryland 2026 session is off to a faster than normal start, at least for the safer streets/bike-ped legislation that WABA, Bike Maryland, and advocates across the State follow.

The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee has already held hearings on four bills bike advocates are following:

• SB 155 Bicycle Safety Start which allows people who bike to use leading pedestrian intervals to enter intersections ahead of cars, making them more visible and safer. 
• SB 45  would allow the use of speed cameras in residential areas under certain conditions. Cameras are also a proven safety measure that can slow cars down, making it safer for the drivers and for vulnerable road users who bike, walk and access transit.  
• There were also two hearings on bills brought by the Maryland Department of Transportation; SB 173 allows Maryland to enter into reciprocal agreements with other States and DC to enforce speeding tickets and SB 38 which will make it easier to place Interlock Ignition devices on the cars of drivers who have been ticketed for driving under the influence..

You can learn more about Bike Maryland’s legislative priorities by clicking here.

Week of January 12th

January 14th was the first day of the Maryland General Assembly, starting our race against the 90 day timeline of the annual legislative session. We’re hoping to build on good momentum from 2025 to get more bills across the finish line this year.

WABA’s working with advocacy partners across Maryland, including Bike Maryland, Bike AAA (Anne Arundel and Annapolis), Bike HoCo (Howard County), Bike Frederick and others around the state.

Top three priorities:

1. No Stopping/Standing/Parking in Bike Lanes
   Provides statewide clarity and applies to all State Highways clarifying that bike lanes are for moving people, not parking vehicles. The House passed the bill in 2025, but a 30‑minute loading amendment undercut safety and it stalled in the Senate Judicial Proceedings (JPR) committee. This year: we will keep the bill clean and avoid carve‑outs.  (Local bills have recently passed in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties which apply to bike lanes on County roads.) 
2. Bicyclist Safety Start (Leading Pedestrian Interval)
   Lets cyclists proceed on the walk signal. The House passed the bill 133–0 in 2025; but it missed the Senate due to timing. This year: we will get an early start to make sure the bill passes both chambers.
3. Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) Pilot
   Addresses the dangerous driving of super speeders, a small, high-risk subset of drivers repeatedly caught speeding or driving extremely fast who are responsible for a disproportionate number of fatal and serious crashes, with in‑car speed limiters that stop a vehicle from exceeding the posted speed limit. This year: we are working to move forward a bill that will establish a pilot and clarify program eligibility, address privacy concerns, and allow for public evaluation.

Other bills we will track during the 2026 legislative session include:

• Contributory Negligence carve out for vulnerable road users,
• Ticket reciprocity
• Speed monitoring/automated camera enforcement in safety corridors,
• Urban speed‑limit flexibility,
• Safe Routes to School; increased Lamphier Bikeways funding,
• MDOT transparency improvements,
• Automated traffic enforcement camera placement in high risk corridors, etc.

Beyond these bills, we will track and submit testimony in support of, or in opposition to, other bicycle, pedestrian, and transportation-related bills. We will work to support our coalition members that are championing bills, like the Transportation Climate Alignment Act, which we want to succeed. We will also continue to engage our coalition, legislators, and other stakeholders to build support for other bicycle-friendly policies that may appear in future legislative sessions, including bills like the bicycle safety yield and enhanced vulnerable road user penalties.